Epic Tarts

We’re not talking quiches, and there won’t be any soggy bottoms around here. These new ideas use a variety of gorgeous vegetables on a mixture of bases, none of which need blindbaking. Perfect for a holiday gathering, lunch with friends or a family supper

recipes CASSIE BEST | photographs EMMA BOYNS

Spring tarts with watercress salsa verde & whipped lemon feta

Transform a sheet of shop-bought pastry into this stunning tart, piled with beautiful vegetables. This recipe makes two tarts, perfect for a party, or you can halve the recipe and stash the excess pastry in the freezer for another day.

MAKES 2 tarts (each serves 4) | PREP 20 mins | COOK 30 mins | EASY

Use just the egg yolk to glaze for a glossier finish

• 320g sheet ready rolled all-butter puff pastry

• 1 egg yolk, to glaze

• handful baby carrots (about 8), peeled and any fat ones halved

• handful radishes (about 10), halved olive or rapeseed oil, for drizzling

• bunch of thin-stemmed asparagus (about 16), woody ends trimmed

• handful sugar snap peas (about 16) 100g fresh or frozen garden peas

For the whipped lemon feta

• 200g block feta

• 250g tub mascarpone

• 1 lemon, zested

• 5 tbsp milk

For the watercress salsa verde

• 80g watercress small bunch parsley

• 1 small garlic clove

• 1 tbsp capers

• 3 anchovy fillets (optional)

• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

• 1 lemon, juiced

• 100ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1) Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Unroll the pastry but leave it on the parchment, then transfer it to a baking tray. Brush egg yolk all over. Trim the edges with a large, sharp knife – this will give you a neater finish but isn’t essential. Cut the pastry in half lengthways, and move the pieces apart so they have a little space to puff up as they cook. Score a border about 1cm from the edge of the pastry, all the way around, then cut slashes across the centre to prevent it from puffing too much. Be careful not to score the border.

2) Toss the carrots and radishes in a little oil and a sprinkling of salt in a small roasting tin. Put the pastry on the top shelf of the oven and the veg on the middle one, and cook for 25 mins, or until the pastry is golden and has a crisp base, and the veg are starting to soften. Leave to cool while you make the lemony feta.

3) Crumble the feta into a bowl, add the mascarpone, lemon zest and milk and blend using an electric hand whisk until smooth. Chill until needed. To make the salsa, put all the ingredients in a small hand processor and whizz to a pesto consistency. This will keep in the fridge for a few days. 4 Bring a pan of water to the boil, and have a bowl to hand filled with cold water and some ice. Add the asparagus to the boiling water and cook for 1-2 mins until bright green but still crunchy. Use a slotted spoon to scoop out and plunge straight into the iced water. Do the same with the sugar snaps, and finally the peas, draining these in a sieve, then cool in the ice water with the other veg.

5) Spread the whipped feta over the bases, top with the veg (you can mix them up or keep the roasted veg on one tart and the green veg on the other, if you like), then drizzle with salsa verde and a little oil. Best served within an hour or two, but leftovers will keep for a day in the fridge.

Mix up the toppings

1) Asparagus & prosciutto

Cook a few slices of prosciutto under the grill until crispy. Top the tart with lots of thin asparagus stems, then crumble over the prosciutto and finish with some basil.

2) Carrot & hazelnut

Toast a handful of blanched hazelnuts in a dry pan until they smell nutty. Top the tart with lots of roasted baby carrots and scatter over the hazelnuts.

3) Pea & mint

Use 200g peas to top the tart, and replace the watercress with a big bunch of mint. Lots of fresh lemon zest will top it off nicely.

Cutting the pastry after applying egg wash ensures the layers don't stick together and gives you maximum puff

GOOD TO KNOW 1 of 5-a-day PER SERVING 438 kcals • fat 36g • saturates 17g • carbs 17g • sugars 4g • fibre 3g • protein 9g • salt 1g

Chicory, sausage & black olive polenta tart

This tart uses quick-cook polenta for the base, and if you’ve never used it before you might be surprised at how quickly it thickens. Once poured onto your baking tray, it will set to make a firm base for your tart. You can also cut it into chips for deep frying – delicious with a steak.

SERVES 4-6 | PREP 10 mins | COOK 35 mins | EASY

This tart is gluten-free, just check the sausages and stock cubes as some brands may contain gluten. Find taleggio cheese in larger supermarkets, Italian delis or online. If you can't find it, use mozarella.

• 1 orange, zested and juiced

• 2 tsp honey

• 2-3 red chicories, halved

• olive or rapeseed oil

• 1 chicken or vegetable stock cube

• 200g quick-cook polenta

• 200g taleggio cheese, thinly sliced and broken into smaller pieces

• 4 good-quality Italian sausages

• handful black olives, pitted and halved or squashed

• good pinch dried chilli flakes

1) Put the orange juice and honey in a large frying pan and bubble until reduced to a sticky glaze. Add the chicory and cook for 2 mins, turning once in the glaze until it just starts the soften, then leave in the pan to cool. Once cooled, cut each chicory in half again. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and boil the kettle. Line a large baking sheet with parchment and oil it lightly.

2) Crumble the stock cube into a large pan and add 1 litre hot water from the kettle. Bring the water back to the boil, then quickly pour in the polenta and cook for 5 mins, whisking the whole time. It will be really thick once cooked. Tip the polenta onto the baking sheet and spread out to make the tart base, it should be about 2-3cm thick.

3) Top with the cheese, arrange the chicory pieces on top in a fan, then crumble small chunks of sausage around them, discarding the skins. Add the olives, chilli, orange zest, a good drizzle of olive oil and some seasoning. Bake for 20 mins, then turn the grill on for a final few mins until the sausages are browned and the polenta is starting to crisp. Leave to stand for a few mins, then serve warm.

Left to go cold and chopped into squares, this makes perfect picnic nibbles

GOOD TO KNOW calcium • 1 of 5-a-day PER SERVING (4) 432 kcals • fat 33g • saturates 15g • carbs 14g • sugars 5g • fibre 2g • protein 19g • salt 3.8g

Broccoli & cauliflower cheese galette with hazelnut spelt pastry

If you hate lining and blind-baking pastry cases, a galette is the tart for you. The rustic shaping is all part of its charm, so don’t fuss over perfect edges too much. The spelt and hazelnut in the pastry gives it a short texture, so handle with care, and add a drizzle more water if you need to.

SERVES 8 | PREP 25 mins plus resting and chilling | COOK 1 hr | MORE EFFORT | V

Charred broccoli and cauliflower give this tart a deeply savoury flavour. Hazelnuts add a sweet earthy flavour to the pastry. You could also try using almonds.

For the pastry

• 80g hazelnuts, roughly chopped

• 120g spelt flour

• 130g plain white flour, plus extra for dusting

• 130g cold butter, cubed

• 1 egg, beaten

For the filling

• 6 spears Tenderstem or purple sprouting broccoli, split lengthways if very thick

• ½ cauliflower, cut into 1cm steaks, then into chunks, plus a few of the leaves roughly chopped

• 1 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil

• 50g butter

• 50g flour (spelt or plain white is fine)

• 200g crème fraîche

• 150g extra mature cheddar, grated

• 1 ½ tsp Dijon mustard

• 1 egg, plus 1 yolk

1) Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the hazelnuts in a small roasting tin and roast for a few mins until starting to deepen in colour and smell nutty. Tip into a bowl and leave to cool completely, then chill until needed. You could do this step the night before to ensure they’re nice and cold.

2) Use the same roasting tin to roast the broccoli and cauliflower (without the leaves), tossed in a little oil for 10 mins until starting to soften and char in places. To make the sauce, melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat, then add the flour, crème fraîche, cheese, mustard and some black pepper. Set back over the heat, whisking continuously until smooth and thick, and the cheese has melted. Cover the surface with cling film (to prevent a skin from forming) and set aside to cool.

3) Tip most of the nuts into a food processor, reserving 8-10 for the top. Pulse briefly until finely chopped. Add the flours and 1 /2 tsp salt, and whizz again until combined. Add the butter and continue pulsing until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then add the egg and 2-3 tbsp cold water and whizz until the mixture starts to form bigger clumps. Tip onto a work surface and knead briefly to bring the pastry together. Shape into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 20 mins. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 (if not already on) and line a large baking sheet with parchment.

4) When the cheese mixture has cooled, mix in the whole egg. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to a circle about the thickness of a £1 coin (don’t worry if the edges look rustic, this is all a part of its charm). Transfer it to the baking sheet. Spread the cheese mixture over the pastry, leaving a border of about 2cm around the edge. Arrange the veg and leaves on top of the cheese sauce. Roughly chop and scatter over the remaining hazelnuts, then fold the sides of the pastry in to create a nice edge around the tart. Brush with the egg yolk and bake for 45 mins until the pastry is golden and crisp and the filling is bubbling. Eat warm.

Make ahead, reheat and serve with a green salad for lunch

PER SERVING 480 kcals • fat 37g • saturates 19g • carbs 23g • sugars 2g • fibre 3g • protein 12g • salt 0.7g

Caramelised fennel, potato & lemon pissaladière

Pissaladière is a classic French bread-based tart, usually topped with caramelised onions, anchovies and black olives. I’ve replaced the onion with fennel, but you need to cook it in the same way as you would the onions; low and slow until sweet and meltingly tender. Slice the lemon nice and thin for the top. It will caramelise and add a deep citrussy flavour to the tart.

SERVES 8 | PREP 20 mins plus at least 1 hr 30 mins resting | COOK 1 hr | EASY | ❄

Cook the fennel low and slow to draw out its natural sweetness. Look for unwaxed lemons as you'll be eating the whole thing, skin and all!

For the base

• 350g strong white bread flour

• ½ tsp caster sugar

• 1 tsp fast-action dried yeast

• 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for the tin

For the topping

• 3 tbsp olive oil 2 x 80g jar anchovies in olive oil

• 3 large or 4 small fennel bulbs, halved and finely sliced

• 1 tbsp light brown sugar

• ½ tbsp balsamic vinegar

• 2 tsp fennel seeds

• 200g Jersey Royal new potatoes, sliced as thick as Dhs1 coins

• 1 small lemon, sliced as thinly as you can

1) Weigh the flour in a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add 1 1 /2 tsp salt, the sugar and the yeast and stir to combine. Pour in 200ml warm water and the oil and mix until you form a soft dough – it might feel a little sticky but don’t be tempted to add more flour until it’s been kneaded. Knead for 10 mins by hand, or 5-7 mins in a mixer (the dough will be less sticky and bouncier when it’s ready). Put it back in a clean, oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and set aside to rise for an hour or two (depending on the temperature in the kitchen.)

2) Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan or casserole dish. Add a good splash of the oil from one of the jars of anchovies too. Add the fennel, sugar, vinegar, fennel seeds and a splash water and cover the dish with a lid. Cook over a low heat for 10 mins, remove the lid and continue to cook, stirring every so often, until it’s really soft and caramelised. This can take up to 30 mins so be patient. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

3) Cook the potatoes in a pan of boiling water for 2-3 mins. You want them to just start softening, but not cook all the way through. Drain and leave to steam-dry in the colander.

4) When the dough has doubled in size, tip it onto your work surface and give it a few kneads and folds to knock out some air. Oil a large roasting tin (ours was 24cm x 38cm) and roll the dough out to almost fill it, leaving a little space for it to rise. Spread the cooked fennel over the dough, leaving a little border around the edge. Arrange the anchovy fillets in a diamond pattern on top, then fill the spaces with overlapping slices of potato and lemon. Sprinkle the potatoes and lemon with some sea salt and the whole tart with black pepper, then drizzle generously with the remaining oil from one of the anchovy jars. Cover lightly with cling film and leave to rise for another 30 mins-1 hr until the dough has puffed up and filled the tin. Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.

5) If you gently press the dough and it doesn’t bounce back, it’s ready. Bake for 25-30 mins. Serve warm, cold or reheated, cut into squares.

GOOD TO KNOW folate • 1 of 5-a-day PER SERVING 281 kcals • fat 7g • saturates 1g • carbs 43g • sugars 3g • fibre 5g • protein 9g • salt 1.9g

Spring greens spanakopita

Eating your greens has never been so enjoyable! Seasonal spring greens are combined with creamy ricotta and herbs, then wrapped in crisp filo pastry, in this delicious tart.

SERVES 8 | PREP 45 mins | COOK 55 mins | MORE EFFORT | V

Scattering sesame seeds between the laters helps to keep them separate, so you'll get a good crunch

• 500g spring greens, finely shredded, stalks and all

• 150g butter

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 2 large leeks, halved, cleaned and finely sliced

• 4 garlic cloves, crushed

• small pack parsley, chopped

• small pack mint, chopped

• ½ small pack dill, chopped

• ¼ nutmeg, finely grated

• 250g ricotta

• 100g pecorino, parmesan or vegetarian alternative, finely grated

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 1 lemon, zested

• 270g pack filo pastry

• 3 tbsp sesame seeds (we used a mixture of black and white)

1) Bring a large pan of water to the boil, tip in the greens and cook for 1 min, then drain and leave in the colander to cool a little.

2) Melt 1 tbsp butter with the oil in a large pan. Add the leeks and a big pinch of salt, then stir over a medium heat until softened, about 8 mins. Add the garlic and cook for another min, then remove from the heat, tip into a large bowl and leave to cool.

3) Squeeze as much water out of the greens as you can; if you don’t mind getting a tea towel dirty, the best way to do this is to pile them onto the clean towel, gather the corners and squeeze. Add the greens to the pan with the leeks, then stir in the herbs, nutmeg, cheeses, eggs, zest and seasoning. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

4) You’ll need a 23cm springform cake tin to assemble the tart in. Melt the remaining butter in a pan or the microwave and use some of it to grease the tin. Now you’re ready to work with the filo. Have a clean tea towel to hand to keep the sheets covered as you work (it can dry out very quickly). Layer the sheets of filo in the tin, brushing each one really well with butter and leaving plenty of pastry hanging over the edge, to close the top with once filled. Scatter the sesame seeds between each layer of pastry as you go. Save a few sheets for the top. Once the tin is lined, fill with the greens mixture. Scrunch a few more sheets of buttery pastry on top and fold in the overhanging sheets to close the tart. Scatter any remaining sesame seeds on top and drizzle over the remaining butter.

5) Bake for 40-45 mins until deep golden brown (cover with foil if it starts to brown too much). Remove from the tin as soon as you can to help keep the pastry crisp. Serve warm or cold.

You can replace the spring greens with spinach (which is used in a classic spanakopita), if you like

GOOD TO KNOW calcium • vit c • 1 of 5-a-day PER SERVING 430 kcals • fat 30g • saturates 16g • carbs 22g • sugars 3g • fibre 5g • protein 15g • salt 1g

Shoot director: Martin Topping | Food stylist: Jennifer Joyce | Stylist: Jo Harris